Webcomic / A Sangheili's War Is Never Over

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"On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons, we swore to uphold the Covenant!"

A Sangheili's War is Never Over is a HaloFan Web Comic written by the comic and concept artist Levi Hoffmeier, commonly known as Leviathan, also the author of Halo: A Fistful of Arrows and Mayflower. It takes place after the events of Halo 3 and regards the Arbiter and his fellow Elite warriors in the schism against the Brutes following the dissolution of the Covenant.

The Human-Covenant War has ended, but the Great Schism has begun and the warring space fleets of Sangheili (Elites) and Jiralhanae (Brutes) have been battling for dominance ever since the Covenant's breakup. However, the fight has been dragging to a stalemate, and the Brutes are beginning to pick up the slack and develop better strategy, and may even risk invading the Sangheilian homeworld. Discussing this matter aboard the flapship Shadow of Intent, the famed Arbiter Thel 'Vadam formulates a plan for the rest of the Elites. He will descend to the surface of the Brutes' homeworld, Doisac, and challenge their most powerful chieftain to a duel. Whoever wins the duel wins the leadership of the galaxy.

Unlike Leviathan's later work A Fistful of Arrows, Sangheili's War is comparatively shorter, as well as a taking a more "comic book" art style with starker lines and contrasting shadows as opposed to to his usual "painterly" style. It's also faster paced with greater emphasis on action and boasting speeches, and the characters share more trusting relationships.

Honor Before Reason: The Elite Councilor aboard the Shadow of Intent fits this mold perfectly, while Rtas 'Vadum and the Arbiter are more tempered versions, balancing pragmatism with honor. Unusually for the species, they're shown invoking this trope on the Brutes, expecting them to be arrogant enough to accept the terms of their duel.

Martyrdom Culture: But according to the Arbiter, make sure it's a cause worth dying for first.

Never Live It Down: In-universe. Many of the Elites accuse the Arbiter of going soft because of he fought with humans. "There were but two", indeed.

Not So Different: The comic opens with the Arbiter reflecting how his kind once hunted down those who denounced the Covenant, branding them heretics. But now the Elites as a whole are rebelling against the Covenant, and so become their "heretics".

Only a Flesh Wound: Cerberus gets an arm chopped off yet continues fighting with his other arm. The Arbiter too gets struck twice with a Gravity Hammer, a one-hit kill weapon in the games and books, but is only knocked off balance. Justified by the fact that both Elites and Brutes are much tougher than humans, though Brutes more so.

Painting the Medium / Speech Bubbles: The speech bubbles are colored differently according to who is speaking. Rtas 'Vadum's is light grey, the Councilor's is dark grey, Cerberus's is very dark grey, and the Arbiter's is medium grey.

Values Dissonance: In-Universe. Even now that there's peace between humanity and most of the Covenant races, there's plenty of casual racism going on. The Arbiter is mocked for the fact that he worked with humans as if it's pathetic and the Elites don't even try to hide their seething hatred for the Brutes (though that's more because the Brutes were willing to wipe them out, so it's a little more understandable). It's also casually suggested that the Brutes be forced into what could best be described as indentured servitude to the other races, as punishment for allying with the Prophets and continuing the war. This is treated like a simple trade embargo would be in human culture.

Xanatos Gambit: The Elites formulate one with their challenge of a duel. If the Arbiter wins, the Jiralhanae will be forced to back down and accept the Elites' leadership. If the Brutes win, then they pull back from the fighting to accept their victory, giving the Elites a much needed respite from battle.

Batman Gambit: Even if the Brutes refuse to surrender, they will have lost their most valuable leader, causing them a power breakup that will degenerate into civil war.

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